Garment construction

ABSTRACT

A garment such as trousers, slacks and shorts including a pair of pockets so constructed and arranged as to provide an abdominal supporting band. One side edge of each pocket is secured to the garment fabric near a conventional fly closure and the other side edge of each pocket is secured to the garment cloth near the side seam of the pocket. The widths of the pockets are made slightly less than the confronting portions of the garment cloth so that the pockets form an abdominal supporting band and the garment cloth is allowed to hang freely from the waist band of the garment.

United States Patent [1 1 Bennett GARMENT CONSTRUCTION [75] inventor: Robert B. Bennett, Englewood, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Chromalloy American Corporation, New York, NY.

[22] Filed: July 12, 1972 [211 App]. No.: 270,943

[52 0.5. CI. 2/227, 2/247 51 im. Cl. A41d 1/06, A4ld 27/20 [58] Field of Search 2/237, 221, 76, 247,

[56] References Cited Aug. 14, 1973 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Robert D. Spille et a].

[571' ABSTRACT A garment such as trousers, slacks and shorts including a pair of pockets so constructed and arranged as to provide an abdominal supporting band. One side edge of each pocket is secured to the garment fabric near a conventional fly closure and the other side edge of each pocket is secured to the garment cloth near the side seam of the pocket. The widths of the pockets are made slightly less than theconfronting portions of the garment cloth so that the pockets form an abdominal supporting band and the garment cloth is allowed to hang UNITED STATES PATENTS freely from the waist band of the garment. 3,220,017 11/1965 Morton 2/237 472,273 4/1892 Rupprecht 2/237 7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures S a 5 A fl; 5 46 30 28 5 |E E 22 g l f u! 14 p GARMENT CONSTRUCTION The present invention relates to a garment construction and more particularly to a slenderizer for men's, boys and ladies slacks, trousers and shorts.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a garment construction which will support the abdominal region of the wearer without discomfort and which will generally improve the outward appearance of both the garment and the wearer. It is another object of the invention to provide a garment construction which will effectively support the abdominal region of the wearer without being visible to an observer. It is still another object of the invention to provide an abdominal area supporting device for a garment which will enhance the appearance of the garment, inhibit lateral distortion thereof and improve the fit and drape of the garment. It is a still further object of the invention to provide a garment incorporating an abdominal region support which will contribute to better posture and appearance of the wearer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and will in part appear from the following detailed description, it being understood however that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes can be made by those skilled in the art in the structure specifically described without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. In the following detailed description the invention will be described as embodied in a pair of mens trousers, although as pointed out above, the invention may also be advantageously incorporated in shorts, slacks and the like for men, women or children.

The objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved, in general, by providing a garment, e.g., a pair of trousers having either front or side pockets that are so constructed and arranged as to provide the desired abdominal support, thus making it unnecessary to incorporate in the garment a separate structure to provide abdominal support. The objects and advantages of the invention may best be understood and appreciated by reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates a pair of cloth trousers incorporating two embodiments of the invention and wherein:

FIG. I is a biassed front perspective view (viewed from slightly left of center) of a pair of trousers incorporating an embodiment of the invention wherein the trousers have side pockets and broken away to show a portion of the outer layer of the pocket fabric; and

FIG. 2 is abiassed front perspective view (viewed from slightlyleft'of center) of a pair of trousers incorporating an embodiment of the invention wherein the trousers have front pockets.

The objects of the invention are achieved, in general, by so constructing and arranging the pockets of a pair of trousers that they cooperate to form an abdominal supporting band. Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIG. 1, the trousers there shown comprise the usual body-surrounding portion having a conventional waist band 12, side seams l4 and 16, and zipper fly closure comprising the zipper strips 18 and 20. Formed within the body-supporting portion 10 are a pair of pockets generally designated 22 and 24 which are of similar construction. The general configuration of the pockets is best illustrated in the left-hand portion ofFIG. l where the perimeter of pocket 22 is indicated in dotted lines. As there shown, pocket 22 has a top edge 26, front side edge 28, rear side edge 30 and semicircular bottom edge 32.

The details of construction of the pockets are illustrated in connection with pocket 24 in the right-hand portion of FIG. 1. The pocket 24 comprises two layers of fabric stitched together around their periphery except for a hand opening through which the wearer may insert his hand. The inner layer of fabric of the pocket 24 is designated by the numeral 34 and the outer pocket fabric layer (shown in the broken away section of FIG. 1) is designated 36. The pocket 24 has a top secured to the waist band 12 by the row of stitching 38, a front side edge secured to the zipper section 20 by the stitching 40, and a generally semi-circular bottom edge 42. The rear side edge of the pocket contains a handopening leading to the interior of the pocket.

Referring again to the left-hand side of FIG. I, the external portion of the hand-opening is defined by goreshaped facing 44 of trouser cloth and a bead 46 of trouser cloth extending from waist band 12 downwardly and rearwardly to the side seam 14. Pocket 24 is similarly provided with a facing 48 and head 50. The rear side edge of the inner fabric 34 of pocket 24 is secured to the forward edge of facing 48 by the line of stitching 52. The bead 50 is provided with an internal flap 54 of trouser cloth that is secured to the rear side edge of the outer fabric 36 of pocket 24 by the line of stitching 56. Thus access to the interior of the pocket is achieved by insertion of the wearer's hand between the facing 48 and bead 50.

The desired abdominal support is obtained by making the pockets slightly narrower than the adjacent portion of the trouser cloth. More particularly, the width of pocket22 between stitchings 28 and 30 is slightly less than that of the confronting portion of the trouser cloth. Similarly, the width of pocket 24 between the stitchings 40 and 52 is slightly less than that of the confronting portion of the trouser cloth. Thus when the zipper sections 18 and 20 are engaged to close the zipper fly, the inner fabric layers of the two pockets form a continuous band that supports the abdomen of the wearer. This permits the front portion of the trouser cloth to hang freely from the waist band without distortion due to internal pressure and thus improves the drape of the garment.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawing which illustrates a pair of trousers having front pockets instead of side pockets, the pocket has a front side edge 62 stitched to zipper section 64 and a rear side edge 66 stitched to the side seam 68 of the trousers. Similarly, the pocket 70 has a front side edge 72 secured to the zipper section 74 and a rear side edge 76 secured to the side seam 78 of the trousers. As in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 1, the width of pocket 60 between side edges 62 and 66 is made slightly less than the width of the portion of the trouser cloth it confronts and the width of pocket 70 between side edges 72 and 76 is made slightly less than the width of the trouser cloth it confronts. Thus when the zipper fly is closed, the inner fabric layers of pockets 60 and 70 form a continuous freely from the waist band thereby improving the drape of the garment.

It is, of course, to be understood that the foregoing description is to be interpreted as illustrative only and that numerous changes can be made in the illustrative embodiments described without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A garment including a body portion having a conventional fly closure in the front thereof, a pair of pockets formed of two layers of fabric secured together at their perimeters except for hand openings and having side edges, one side edge of each pocket being secured to said body portion near said fly closure and the other side edge of each pocket being secured to said body portion near one side thereof, the widths of said pockets between said side edges being slightly less than the widths of the parts of said body portions confronting said pockets between said side edges, whereby said pockets provide abdominal support to the wearer of said garment.

2. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the side edges of said pockets remote from said fly closure are secured to side seams of said body portion.

3. A garment according to claim 1 wherein said body portion is provided with a waist band and the tops of said pockets are secured to said body portion near said waist band.

4. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the side edges of said pockets are secured to said body portion along the entire length of said side edges.

5. A garment according to claim 1 wherein said body portion has a pair of hand openings formed therein in registry with the hand openings of said pockets and the peripheries of the hand openings of said pockets are stitched to the peripheries of the hand openings of said body portion.

6. A garment of according to claim 5 wherein said hand openings are in the front of said body portion.

7. A garment according to claim 5 wherein said hand openings are located at the sides of said body portion. t t i 

1. A garment including a body portion having a conventional fly closure in the front thereof, a pair of pockets formed of two layers of fabric secured together at their perimeters except for hand openings and having side edges, one side edge of each pocket being secured to said body portion near said fly closure and the other side edge of each pocket being secured to said body portion near one side thereof, the widths of said pockets between said side edges being slightly less than the widths of the parts of said body portions confronting said pockets between said side edges, whereby said pockets provide abdominal support to the wearer of said garment.
 2. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the side edges of said pockets remote from said fly closure are secured to side seams of said body portion.
 3. A garment according to claim 1 wherein said body portion is provided with a waist band and the tops of said pockets are secured to said body portion near said waist band.
 4. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the side edges of said pockets are secured to said body portion along the entire length of said side edges.
 5. A garment according to claim 1 wherein said body portion has a pair of hand openings formed therein in registry with the hand openings of said pockets and the peripheries of the hand openings of said pockets are stitched to the peripheries of the hand openings of said body portion.
 6. A garment of according to claim 5 wherein said hand openings are in the front of said body portion.
 7. A garment according to claim 5 wherein said hand openings are located at the sides of said body portion. 